WoW newbie looking for advice

[Klaus]

Inefficient.

Max range: Mind Blast >strafe > SW:P while strafing> Mind Flay>Mind Flay> Wand.

There's no need to waste mana on vampiric embrace as they're not going to damage you overmuch anyway providing you're grinding on the proper mobs and quests. As for PW:S, since there's little reason to cast with a mob in melee given the -hp% that the alpha strike provides and the dps of SW:P on the mob means that the mob isn't going to be in your face that long, so uninterruptability isn't of great value. Past 50 substitute the opening MB for VT. Now, if you're working on +1-+4 quests/mobs, instead of efficiently grinding out green, then heavier mana usage rotations per mob might be called for. Either way, if you have room to strafe, use that to gain range instead of backing up, will typically allow for a half to most of a full Mind Flay with just that change.

Cheers,
~Frag

I agree. Starting with the instant-cast SWP wastes the out-of-combat cast time you could gain by starting with the MB. Doing MB->SWP gives you some up-front damage, changes the ticking of the DOT not at all (compared to opening with SWP) and gets the MB cooldown started for a 2nd usage.

The only point I don't use in my own play is the strafe. I've gotten quite good at inst-flipping 180 degrees and running while casting SWP and VE over my shoulder. Then snap back around and flay. Note that a 2nd flay, even if you only get 2 of the 3 ticks before getting hit, is more damage / mana than another blast or using shield to get more flays in. On a slow-hitting mob, you can frequently time the cast of a flay to get those 2 ticks between hits.

The run-instead-of-strafe thing is a personal playstyle choice - strafe should work just fine, I just do it the other way. And I do sometimes back up instead of running if I know I'll be able to get a full flay in, and that that will be all I'll need. Sometimes the little extra distance of backing up is enough, and strafe or run is more work than it's worth.